More Than Words: Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art

Paul Bransom to Kicki Hays
17 Oct. 1947

In the 1920s, illustrator Paul Bransom (1885–1979) and his wife built a home and studio at Canada Lake in the Adirondacks, where they were part of a small congregation of artists and writers. In this letter to a friend’s daughter, the artist paints himself working on a woodblock book plate for her, while he and his wife dream of diving into the lake.

Courtesy Smithsonian Archives of American Art